Help with central beardie

[Thornydevil]

I recently purchased 2 central bearded dragons they have been in their new enclosure for a week now one of them has settled in very well but the other one has not eaten anything in that period.I believe that they are around 8 mths old, and around 15cms long from nose to end of tail. Firstly are they small for their age,they were in a small cage,but now in a 120 cms long enclosure,with plenty of things for them to do.
I have recently noticed the one that has not been eating has a lump or bulge at the top of his tail,directly above his back legs.Could this be a injury as he does not move around as much as the other one,and when you pick him up and pat him he seems to be sensitive in this area.I am worried that it may be something that has caused impaction.Also i would appreciate some help in finding a vet in Newcastle area in case i need to take things further.If anybody could shed some light on this problem it would be greatly appreciated.I am relatively new to the world of dragons but am willing to learn as much as i can,so if anyone can help me please.

 

[SlothHead]

do you know the sex of the animals?

and do you have any pics of the injury?

 

[Thornydevil]

Dont know the sex of them,working on getting some pics to post

 

[SlothHead]

if they are two males and one is dominating the other, this could be your problem, however, the lump thing that you are talking about without seeing the pics, hard to really tell.

Do you knwo if it is drinking?

 

[Aslan]

Could the lump merely be hemipenal bulges...?

Some pics will definately help...

 

[Thornydevil]

The lump is on the top of the tail at the joint of the tail to the body.The pics i am tring to get are really hard to tell where the bulge is and how big it is.we do know that it is drinking a little bit.I have been dropping drops of water on his nose and he has been drinking it off.

 

[Barney]

Add a liitle poweraid to the water The electrolites will stimulate eating & general health
Its worked with me with stubbin little ones that wont eat

Hope this helps but the lump not sure unless I see it i.e. pics

 

[JKretzs613]

Hello

Hello,

The lump is most likely from an injury or severe metabolic bone disease. If one is not doing well, you should separate them so the other one doesn't pick on the "weaker" one, because it will get picked on eventually.
Definitely post pics I would like to see them please. Thanks.
What type of UVB do you have on them, & what about calcium supplementation?

Tracie

 

[JasonL]

The lump will be Metabolic Bone Disease, it's from the bones softening and swelling. The hip area is one of the main problem areas. You need to seperate them and get it eating, also get it out in the sun for a few hours a day, being careful not to cook it of course

 

[JasonL]

I'd also start "assist feeding". Dragons that have low calcium levels will not generally feel like eating much and spiral downhill from there.

 

[Thornydevil]

Hope these pictures help, although they are not very good.

 

[scorps]

yawah

 

[JKretzs613]

Hello

Hello,

Thanks for posting the pics. That is more than likely the problem, metabolic bone disease.
Are you giving calcium daily along with D3? As suggested assisted feeding is excellent in helping them get their health back but don't wait too long. Try getting some chicken babyfood or turkey babyfood & mix calcium in with that & use a syringe without needles to feed him. Or if you have the stomach, you can blend up feeders along with veggies & vitamins & give him that instead of babyfood. It is up to you. He just needs some nourishment.
What type & brand of UVB are you using?
Can your vet get you some liquid calcium perhaps? It absorbs much better than the calcium that is powdered form.

Tracie

 

[Thornydevil]

What do you mean by assist feeding and how do i do this. I have a uvb light on them it is a repti glo 10.0.is there any other things i can do to save this little fella.how much poweraid do i give him in how much water.calcium supplements because he is not eating can i give him some in the water he has been having.

 

[Barney]

As you said your assisting drinking by drops of water on his nose
If you try this process with poweraid As it contains Electrolites which is good for them
This does work
As you are concerned that its not eating , Or drinking very little . The above method Has saved little ones in the passed by myself & others.
As others have pointed out if you have two males that can hinder eating As one is more dominate than the other

How are you going re the lump Any progress ?

 

[mitchdiamond]

Mark Simpson is a reptile vet and he is just up at Wallsend.

 

[Thornydevil]

I have mixed poweraid with water, and it does seem to like that. I have also mixed some Rep-cal with baby food and fed it with a syringe, didn't eat alot but it did eat a bit, and I will try again a bit later.
The other Lizard doesn't seem to bother his eating as we feed them in a seperate tank, and they seem to get along fine, in fact the healthy lizard is lying on the other one right now.
The lump is still there, and is still a bit sensitive, I think that the previous owner only had a heat lamp that supplied a little UVA light and nothing else.

 

[JasonL]

The larger lizard will be dominating the smaller one, they don't have to chase each other around, or fight ect, Just having to live with a larger lizard will be stressing it out, lying on top of each other is one stealing the others position getting closer to the lamp. You should get someone to show you how to assist feed, but basically it's just placing a dusted woodie in it's mouth, 9 times out of 10 they will chew it up and eat it, do this three times a day to get calcium levels up so it will start eating on it's own, you need three hands or a vice, use a blunt piece of SOFT PLASTIC ( like the end of a cable tie held in a vice) to GENTLY open it's mouth, then just place the woodie in and they usually just chew it up and eat it. Also if you have a good supply of woodies, you can feed them the white, freshly shed ones, these are prized by beardies and even sick ones will usually make an attempt to eat one. It's not a case of feeding them in a seperate tank, they need to live in a seperate tank untill it's better, and maybe for good (sex depending). The fused bones will never fully go away, but should harden and stop causing the lizard pain, and when the lizard is full size with more fat may be less visable.
Simple tub enclosures can be easily made for keeping them seperate, and are good for sunning, use aluminium mesh so you can sit a heat lamp on top of them when inside.

 

[Thornydevil]

Thanks for the info on the vet much appreciated also will try to seperate them, would prefer a permanent enclosure but will put him in a plastic one to start with. By the way he is looking a bit better after a little something to eat, he is moving around and is climbing a little.Hopefully things are starting to look up.

 

[Thornydevil]

Still would like some info about his ongoing problems and how best to treat them in the long term.